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• Lodi family in tragic crash

• Local exam results remain stable

• Show of pride

• Lockeford nightclub owner gets $75,000 from Board of Supervisors

• Regional Roundup

• Success stories

• More Lodi Unified schools scoring in the 800-plus point range on standardized exam

February 9th, 2010

• Middle College High School rated one of the best — and a bargain, to boot

• Lodi decathlon boasts top team in county

• Man who sparked counterfeit case pleads guilty

• Local businessman will visit Haiti to look for family

• Man who claimed to be Yosemite Sam pleads guilty to meth charge

• David Harmer seeks Republican congressional nod

• Lack of evidence in case against suspect in 'drug deal' stabbing

• Regional Roundup

February 8th, 2010

• Public Meetings

• Locals pick best, most memorable Super Bowl commercials

• Regional Roundup

February 6th, 2010

• The Home Depot hopes to join Costco at Reynolds Ranch

• Meet Larry, Curly and Moe

• Baboon business

• Regional Roundup

• Several Lodi venues let you watch the Super Bowl in style

• Lodi Library celebrates 100 years of serving the community

• Culinary craft

February 5th, 2010

• Kids, teachers help Haiti by collecting pennies for Learning Link

• Lodi, Galt students reach out to help Haiti earthquake survivors

• Tasered suspect claims he is Yosemite Sam

• Hours of sweat and work go into putting on crab feeds

• Things looking up for state's real estate

• Correction

• Regional Roundup

• Stray bullet strikes Lodi home; police suspect gang activity may be factor

February 4th, 2010

• Managers at Geweke Toyota answer questions about recall

• Lodi City Council votes to replace play structure at Century Park

• Lodi extends ban on pot shops for another year

• Mokelumne River triathlon set for June

• Family, friends to run half-marathon in memory of Galt family

February 3rd, 2010

• Correction

• Delta College trustees again collide over stipend committee

• Bad bugs, weeds are hot topics at Grape Day

• Lodi-area senators Dave Cox, Lois Wolk admit to gifts; Tom Berryhill case pending

• Lodi Unified School District president issues warning to speakers over cuts

• Galt City Council avoids budget cuts — for now

• New Lodi Memorial Hospital emergency room opens to the public without a hitch

• Regional Roundup

February 2nd, 2010

• Local business leaders say tourism, Costco, Home Depot may play roles in city's future

• Correction

• Former Lodian Erica Davis is first paraplegic woman to summit Kilimanjaro

• Regional Roundup

• No snow leopards, otters for Micke Grove

• McNerney leads in campaign cash

• Police: Train victim was a Lodi teen

• Big rig plows 7 cars

• Jumpers across California

The following stories have received the most reader comments during the last 7 days.

• Will terrorists be given Miranda warnings? (75)
• Lodi Unified School District president issues warning to speakers over cuts (64)
• President Obama's first year (45)
• Many reject the politics of 'no' (45)
• Islamic symbol in mosaic — what is all the fuss? (44)
• Writer comments on Neely column (42)
• The Home Depot hopes to join Costco at Reynolds Ranch (41)
• Time to shed the convenient sham of 'Don't ask, don't tell' policy (34)
• We need to conduct respectful conversations (30)
• Tasered suspect claims he is Yosemite Sam (25)

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Lodi family in tragic crash

Two dead, two badly burned in fiery Nevada wreck; men with links to local General Mills plant

A Lodi husband and wife are in medical comas due to third-degree burns and his parents are dead after a fiery vehicle crash in Nevada on Monday.

Rodney Tate Sr.

Rodney Tate Sr., 44, who works at General Mills, and his wife, Vickie Tate, 44, remain in a Salt Lake City hospital's burn unit. Tate's parents, Kenneth and Loretta Tate, 73 and 71 respectively, died at the scene on Interstate 80 between Winnemucca and Battle Mountain.

Family members are optimistic that the younger couple would recover, but they are also mourning the loss of the family's patriarchs.

Vickie Tate

After 52 years of marriage, Kenneth and Loretta Tate were still in love. They still held hands, and they'd said more than once that they hoped they died together.

Three of their grieving granddaughters had a small amount of solace Tuesday when they learned that the Tates had indeed died together, sitting beside each other in a van.

Their son suffered burns on 80 percent of his body; his wife had burns on 60 percent of her body, according to the Nevada Highway Patrol. Both were taken to a Salt Lake City hospital's burn unit, where family said they remain in medically induced comas.

Kenneth Tate

The cause of the crash remains under investigation, but highway patrol said Vickie Tate was driving the 2000 Dodge Caravan west on Interstate 80. They were in a desolate area about 23 miles west of Battle Mountain when the van drifted into the median around 11:30 a.m. Monday.

The vehicle struck a metal road reflector, overturned and caught fire.

The four were on their way back from Missouri, where they were tending to a farm that's been in the family for decades, though the Tates themselves have lived in Lodi for at least 50 years.

While in Missouri, the senior Tate was driving a tractor when it rolled over and trapped his legs. Vickie Tate heard him screaming for help, and Rodney Tate managed to pull the tractor off his father, granddaughter Christina Pimentel said. The elder Tate suffered a broken foot, and doctors said he would have lost both legs had Rodney Tate not gotten there in time, Pimentel said.

Loretta Tate was killed in an accident in Nevada along with her husband, Kenneth. (Courtesy photo)

Kenneth Tate retired as a foreman from General Mills and still attended reunions there. He always had a joke, loved to get into political discussions and constantly helped his four children, 12 grandchildren, 14 great-grandchildren and countless distant relatives.

"If the grass was too long, my grandpa would come cut it. If your wheels were squeaky, he'd fix them," said granddaughter Jennifer Tate.

Loretta Tate was the type of grandmother who could be trusted with any confidence, her granddaughters said. And she was the one who would gather the whole family together every Christmas, organize all the cooking and try to cram them into her Sunset Drive house.

Pimentel wants that tradition to continue this year, because she knows it's what her grandmother would want.

How long it will take for Rodney and Vickie Tate to return to Lodi is not known, as burns can require lengthy medical care. Their three adult children left at 3 a.m. Tuesday on a plane to the Utah hospital.

(Brian Feulner/News-Sentinel)

On Tuesday afternoon, granddaughter Jamie Amann was relieved to get a phone call that the younger Tates had good odds of living.

But later, in the early evening, she was again sobbing after hearing more details: One of her grandparents had apparently died in the crash and the other was still alive but wouldn't leave the spouse.

So, for the Tate relatives who remain in Lodi, it's a combination of questions about the crash details, optimism for the survivors and grief for the grandparents.

A newspaper still rested on their grandparents' door step Tuesday, and a neighbor said it was unusual to not see the white-haired man who lived there.

The couple married on New Year's Day in 1956, Pimentel said, and went everywhere together. She and the other two granddaughters laughed when recalling how Loretta Tate mentioned that Sean Connery was handsome and Kenneth Tate was a bit jealous.

"They were so in love," Pimentel said.

Her sister, Jennifer Tate, finished the sentence: "And they were never apart."

The Associated Press contributed to this article.

Contact reporter Layla Bohm at layla@lodinews.com.